The Northman

I selected the above pic because it truly encapsulates my memory of this year's THE NORTHMAN, the latest from co-writer/director Robert Eggers.  There is a lot of yelling and screaming in this movie, one of the many reasons I found it to be dangerously close to resembling a parody.  So treacherous is that dividing line between the serious and the absurd.  It is a high wire act Eggers managed with his previous, THE LIGHTHOUSE, but is not so fortunate this time out.  

As the film played, I was analyzing what went wrong.  Was it to Eggers' detriment that he was actually given a budget?  It is well utilized, with location shooting in Ireland appropriately earthy.  Eggers excels at atmosphere, placing his viewers neck deep in cold mud and the like.  His screenplay - a pastiche of Viking legendry and the things it inspired (Shakespeare's tragedies, even CONAN THE BARBARIAN) is fleshed out vividly.   Jarin Blaschke's cinematography, despite that damned still-currently-fashionable washed out palate, is often stunning.   But Eggers allows his film to be ridiculous and emotionally aloof, leading to a long two hour plus punishment.

I knew things were off from the very first scene, its intense chanting reminding me more of Monty Python than Danheim.  Soon enough the film settles into a standard tale of sworn vengeance.  Young Amleth watches his father, King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) die at the hands of his uncle, Fjolnir (Claes Bang).  Flash forward twenty years or so as Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) has grown into an angry warrior who seeks the head of said uncle, now an exile in Iceland.   His anger is further stoked when he learns his mother, Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman) had married Fjolnir and bore a son named Gunnar (Elliott Rose).  And that she's evil and incestuous.

I neglected to mention that Amelth encounters a Seeress, played by the musician Bjork, who foretells his destiny.  This is easily my favorite scene.  By the way, co-screenwriter Sjon is a longtime collaborator of Bjork.

Eggers is always at his best when he keeps the tone solemn, though here everything is so ominous it feels precious, self-important.  Concurrently, he adds what seems to be a certain calculated goofiness. Note the sequence as Aurvandill puts his son, a budding prince, through some man training, which includes belching, farting (what is it with Eggers and flatulence?), and lapping up victuals like a dog.  All overseen by a jester played by, yes, Willem Defoe.   And all that yelling.  Perhaps accurate under the circumstances, yet often sounding like some fanboy attempting to recreate one of his favorite movie scenes.

The biggest issue here is the lack of emotional engagement.  For such an oft-told, familiar narrative, you better be damned sure your characters are worthy of the investment.   Nothing here grabbed me on that level.   I never cared.

I enjoy old lore, especially of the Viking sort.  I've appreciated the works of Neil Gaiman.  THE NORTHMAN, however, feels like the spawn of a Marvel movie and Game of Thrones.  I got this inkling from the trailers, but I was nonetheless optimistic.   I did enjoy portions of this movie, including Anya Taylor-Joy's turn as Olga of the Birch Forest, a sorceress who will prove significant in Amleth's future.  Eggers' sincerity and aggressive interest in period pieces is noted, but I found his new movie to be a sizable disappointment.